On an emotional night in front of his adopted hometown, Phil Rowe put together a jaw-dropping performance to stop Niko Price in the opening bout on the main card at UFC Orlando.
After he was nearly stopped moments earlier, Rowe blasted Price with a straight right hand that wobbled the veteran welterweight and led to a dramatic finish. Once Price was hurt, Rowe just surged forward with a barrage of punches that continued chipping away at Price until referee Marc Goddard just couldn’t let him endure any more punishment.
The stoppage came at 3:26 in the third round.
Heading into the fight, Rowe acknowledged that his mother was battling two different forms of cancer so she wasn’t able to be in the arena to watch him perform but he paid homage to her with his victory.
“This is a dream come true,” Rowe said. “Orlando, this is for you guys. These guys got nothing for me in here. If my mom can do what she does, ain’t nobody stopping me in here.”
The fight started strong for Rowe as he tagged Price with several stinging punches in the opening round while showcasing good accuracy and power. Unfortunately, Rowe wasn’t upping his output, which allowed Price to stick around and use his conditioning to push the pace through every minute of the fight.
Price wasn’t necessarily technical but he was relentless coming after Rowe, which led to a combination that nearly scored him a knockout. A thudding shot had Rowe on rubber legs and it appeared Price might score the finish but he actually ended up punching himself out and left himself little gas left in the tank to play defense when his opponent survived.
Rowe took full advantage with the laser-like precision that helped him score all night long until he finally had Price hurt against the cage. From there, Rowe just kept firing in rapid-fire succession and Price couldn’t withstand the onslaught.
The victory serves as Rowe’s third straight knockout in the UFC, although he failed to make weight on Friday so he won’t be eligible for any post-fight bonuses handed out on Saturday.
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